When I got sick, I was 2 weeks short of being done probation at work. That’s when my benefits would have kicked in. By January, we realized that my return to work wasn’t going to be as soon as I’d anticipated. At this point, it was decided that I would have to apply for Employment Insurance sickness benefits. I had to get my record of employment from work, as well as a list of how much money I made each week I had worked. There was a lot of paperwork to do. I also had to have a bunch of paperwork filled out by my doctor. In short, it was a pain in the ass. Anytime I tried to call to get more information, I got an “all circuits are busy” message, and then it disconnected. When I tried going online, it was asking me for 4 digit access code. However, I only had a 7 digit code. When I finally got through to someone, he let me know that they should have sent me the 4 digit one instead and that’s why I was unable to access the telephone system or the online system. Also, the system had 3 entries for me. Each time I had started and the system had told me the application had timed out “please start again”, it had logged that application. At the beginning of February, I faxed in my record of employment. Near the end of February, I had a message on my online claim saying they hadn’t received my ROE. At this point, I was starting to be a little more steady on my feet, so the first week of March I headed into the office. I brought the fax confirmation with me to show them that I had indeed faxed it to the correct fax number. At this point, they told me there would be a decision on my claim by March 26th. I checked my claim several times a day. Finally March 26th came…and went. By the 27th, my claim now said a decision would be made “as soon as possible”. On the 31st, I finally got through on the telephone to talk to someone to see if they could tell me when my claim would have a decision. They told me I’d be called before the end of the day Thursday. Thursday at the end of the day, I called again and they said they were going to have someone call me by the end of Monday. Friday morning at 8am, I got a phone call to let me know my claim was denied because I didn’t have enough hours to qualify. I had 330 hours and I needed 600. The only reason I didn’t have enough hours is because I’d stopped working to finish my degree. I’m going to appeal the decision because well, what have I got to lose. I paid into EI for 9 years. For 8 of those years I had enough hours to qualify and the one year I need to use it, I don’t qualify…what a joke.
